Are there really? - Empty Closets - A safe online community for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered people coming out

Nixon · 23rd Dec 2008, 11:35 PM

ex-gay camps like on South Park or But I'm a Cheerleader

Thos would be fun to go to for shits and giggles

summersforecast · 24th Dec 2008, 04:08 AM

I guess I find out when i come out of the closet lol

Trumpetplyer23 · 24th Dec 2008, 05:12 AM

Yes, there are ex-gay camps and programs.

partietraumatic · 24th Dec 2008, 07:03 AM

i once saw a programme on this issue...i cant remember who did it,possibly Louis Theroux,but im not sure on that. Anyway he met a load of 'ex-gays', initially i hated them,but by the end i was just laughing at them coz it was so rediculous,since they so obviously still were gay and denying it.

apollo89 · 24th Dec 2008, 07:54 AM

YEah, they exist. Quite sad that they do exist.

pirateninja · 24th Dec 2008, 07:59 AM

Yep, they exist. And if I'm honest, they aren't funny in the slightest. They blame the parents, they use some completely degrading processes to "straighten people out", they make the people who attend feel like the smallest people they can...

The list goes on. I'd rather protest their lack of humanity outside than take one step inside one of those places.

Wander · 24th Dec 2008, 10:20 AM

They do exist, and they aren't funny. Parents drag their kids in crying and expecting them to "turn straight". Either nothing happens except a giant split in the family, or the therapy "works" and then it turns out the person is still homosexual, just faking a straight life by living with a person of the opposite sex. Every psychological organization in America has denounced these groups as failures.

jbb1236 · 24th Dec 2008, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wander

Every psychological organization in America has denounced these groups as failures.

Every accredited psychological organization, ie the American Psychological Association. I know for a fact that Dr. James Dobson, who is a psychologist by profession, still believes that they work. Then again, he isn't part of the APA or any other sort of accredited psychological association.

**Lexington** · 24th Dec 2008, 11:44 AM

Talk to people who have been through them. Trust me - they'll tell you it ain't funny.

Lex

Mirko · 24th Dec 2008, 11:58 AM

Related to that and a person that comes to mind is Peterson Toscano who has described his expriences through one-man plays which have a serious underlying message. Camps or half-way houses where gays are to become straight do not work and are not a fun.

Jeimuzu · 24th Dec 2008, 12:07 PM

They really aren't funny. I've heard about so many kids who go through them and come out... not straight but just scared of being gay. Wouldn't you be, if you'd been electrocuted, beaten, and whatever each camp's method is? Scarred; mentally, emotionally, and of course physically.

Right, so basically they've herded all the kids who don't fit their perfect world into camps and now they're treating them horribly. These camps are typically ran by the 'better dead than gay' lot, and they seem to think that it's their job and their business what happens to gay people, and nobody else's.

I'm terrified for these kids. It's not going to be long before they stop coming out alive. The only reason we don't see more homophobic murders is that we don't tell the homophobes that we're gay, and because even homophobic parents feel a duty, as parents. These camp 'commandants' have no such sense of duty. They know that these kids are gay. And these kids are entirely in their care.

Daniel · 24th Dec 2008, 01:57 PM

Electro shock therapy and hard manual labor are not fun.

starfish · 24th Dec 2008, 07:41 PM

Yeaah...., I'll all for a stroll through the valley of the shadow of death, but voluntarily going to one of these places is just crazy. If someone tried to send me to one of these places I would consider my life in danger and respond accordingly.

Nixon · 24th Dec 2008, 11:48 PM

When I said shits and giggles
I kinda of meant to see what its likke

to make the point that I wasn't thinking about going

sorry

23rd Dec 2008, 11:35 PM	#1
Nixon EC Addict Full Member Gender: Male Orientation: Gay Out Status: Go to Catholic School So, NO Location: Dundee, Nebraska (It's in Omaha) Age: 19 Posts: 575 Join Date: Sep 2008	Are there really? ex-gay camps like on South Park or But I'm a Cheerleader Thos would be fun to go to for shits and giggles __________________ "I drink to stay warm, then kill selected memories"- Conor Oberst' "Some people don't know me neither do I"

24th Dec 2008, 04:08 AM	#2
summersforecast EC Addict Full Member Gender: Carl Orientation: I like dudes and crazy chicks(mostly dudes) Out Status: Out to everyone Location: Johnson City Age: 18 Posts: 777 Join Date: Dec 2008	Re: Are there really? I guess I find out when i come out of the closet lol __________________ meh..

24th Dec 2008, 07:03 AM	#4
partietraumatic A gay heteropolitan? Full Member Gender: Male Out Status: Enough for now Location: Oxford and Birmingham, UK Age: 20 Posts: 1,300 Join Date: Jul 2008	Re: Are there really? i once saw a programme on this issue...i cant remember who did it,possibly Louis Theroux,but im not sure on that. Anyway he met a load of 'ex-gays', initially i hated them,but by the end i was just laughing at them coz it was so rediculous,since they so obviously still were gay and denying it. __________________ 'Im not your toy and this isn't another girl meets boy'

24th Dec 2008, 07:54 AM	#5
apollo89 Member Regular Member Gender: Male Orientation: Gay Out Status: Out to everyone Location: Houston, TX Age: 22 Posts: 48 Join Date: Jul 2008	Re: Are there really? YEah, they exist. Quite sad that they do exist. __________________ "In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." - Martin Luther King Jr.

24th Dec 2008, 07:59 AM	#6
pirateninja EC's Sailor Uranus Full Member Gender: Biologically Female Orientation: Heterosexually Challenged Out Status: Most people Location: Bath, England Age: 21 Posts: 5,853 Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: Are there really? Yep, they exist. And if I'm honest, they aren't funny in the slightest. They blame the parents, they use some completely degrading processes to "straighten people out", they make the people who attend feel like the smallest people they can... The list goes on. I'd rather protest their lack of humanity outside than take one step inside one of those places. __________________ Holly the Pirateninja Ars Longa, Vita Brevis.

24th Dec 2008, 10:20 AM	#7
Wander Banned Gender: Male Orientation: Gay Out Status: Parents, aunts, grandma, counselor, online friends Location: Central Alabama Age: 18 Posts: 2,360 Join Date: Jan 2008	Re: Are there really? They do exist, and they aren't funny. Parents drag their kids in crying and expecting them to "turn straight". Either nothing happens except a giant split in the family, or the therapy "works" and then it turns out the person is still homosexual, just faking a straight life by living with a person of the opposite sex. Every psychological organization in America has denounced these groups as failures.

24th Dec 2008, 11:44 AM	#9
Lexington The gay gargoyle EC Advisor Gender: Male Orientation: Gay Out Status: Out to everyone Location: Colorado Age: 42 Posts: 12,371 Join Date: Dec 2007	Re: Are there really? Talk to people who have been through them. Trust me - they'll tell you it ain't funny. Lex

24th Dec 2008, 11:58 AM	#10
Mirko Molitva Full Member Gender: Male Orientation: Gay Out Status: Out and about Location: British Columbia, Canada Age: 35 Posts: 10,052 Join Date: Apr 2008	Re: Are there really? Related to that and a person that comes to mind is Peterson Toscano who has described his expriences through one-man plays which have a serious underlying message. Camps or half-way houses where gays are to become straight do not work and are not a fun. __________________ ~ Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are ~

24th Dec 2008, 12:07 PM	#11
Jeimuzu Wreck Cognition Full Member Gender: Heterogametic Orientation: Rawr. Out Status: 99% out. Location: Middlesbrough Age: 23 Posts: 1,744 Join Date: Aug 2007	Re: Are there really? They really aren't funny. I've heard about so many kids who go through them and come out... not straight but just scared of being gay. Wouldn't you be, if you'd been electrocuted, beaten, and whatever each camp's method is? Scarred; mentally, emotionally, and of course physically. Right, so basically they've herded all the kids who don't fit their perfect world into camps and now they're treating them horribly. These camps are typically ran by the 'better dead than gay' lot, and they seem to think that it's their job and their business what happens to gay people, and nobody else's. I'm terrified for these kids. It's not going to be long before they stop coming out alive. The only reason we don't see more homophobic murders is that we don't tell the homophobes that we're gay, and because even homophobic parents feel a duty, as parents. These camp 'commandants' have no such sense of duty. They know that these kids are gay. And these kids are entirely in their care. __________________ Last edited by Jeimuzu; 24th Dec 2008 at 12:10 PM..

24th Dec 2008, 01:57 PM	#12
Daniel the great cheese danish Full Member Gender: Male Orientation: Gay Out Status: Out to everyone Location: Buffalo, NY Age: 21 Posts: 2,874 Join Date: Jun 2008	Re: Are there really? Electro shock therapy and hard manual labor are not fun. __________________ "Nobody can teach me who I am, who can describe parts of me, but who I am and what I need, these are things I have to find out myself." - Chunua Achebe

24th Dec 2008, 07:41 PM	#13
starfish This space for lease. Full Member Gender: Male Orientation: I like guys Out Status: Out to everyone Location: Hippie Town, Alberta of the US Age: 31 Posts: 2,108 Join Date: Nov 2008	Re: Are there really? Yeaah...., I'll all for a stroll through the valley of the shadow of death, but voluntarily going to one of these places is just crazy. If someone tried to send me to one of these places I would consider my life in danger and respond accordingly. __________________ All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work. --Thomas J. Watson

24th Dec 2008, 11:48 PM	#14
Nixon EC Addict Full Member Gender: Male Orientation: Gay Out Status: Go to Catholic School So, NO Location: Dundee, Nebraska (It's in Omaha) Age: 19 Posts: 575 Join Date: Sep 2008	Re: Are there really? When I said shits and giggles I kinda of meant to see what its likke to make the point that I wasn't thinking about going sorry __________________ "I drink to stay warm, then kill selected memories"- Conor Oberst' "Some people don't know me neither do I"